Keep it Slick: Infiltrating
Capitalism with The Yes Men
April 30 – June 5, 2010
Opening Reception:
Friday, April 30, 6-8pm
Curated by Astria Suparak, organized by the Feldman Gallery at Pacific Northwest College of the Arts and the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University
Workshop: How to be a Yes Man
May 1, 2010, 11am-1pm
DiverseWorks
1117 East Freeway
Houston, TX 77002
Considered among the most important political artists of the last dozen years, The Yes Men are a group of culture-jamming activists who practice what they call “Identity Correction.” By posing as spokespersons for prominent organizations and powerful entities, The Yes Men create spoof websites and newspapers, stage productive interventions, and appear in conferences and TV shows to highlight how corporations and government organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public. Keep it Slick: Infiltrating Capitalism with The Yes Men exhibits The Yes Men’s practice through five fantastical scenes of elaborate costumes fabricated for their bold interventions, slapstick videos and PowerPoints presented at business conferences, outrageous posters and props, scripts, sketches, research materials and selected ephemera from their personal collections. Keep It Slick is on view April 30 through June 5, 2010 in the DiverseWorks Main Gallery with a “business casual” opening reception Friday, April 30, from 6:00 to 8:00pm. On Saturday, May 1, 2010, DiverseWorks will host a workshop and lecture by the Yes Men titled How To Be A Yes Man that teaches participants strategies of public intervention.
Keep It Slick is curated by Astria Suparak, Director of the Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University.
Public Program:
Workshop: How to be a Yes Man
Saturday, May 1, 2010, 11am-1pm
Come and develop your own strategies for political intervention and learn how to get into trouble Yes Men style. This event is free and open to the public and takes place at DiverseWorks.
The Yes Men Activity Book & Exhibition Catalog:
The Yes Men Activity Book (2010) is available for purchase at DiverseWorks or online. The publication features essays, an interview, a poster, projects, full-color illustrations, and activity items including Build Your Own SurvivaBall, Make Your Own Press Passes, How Identity Correction Works, and How To Be A Yes Man. Contributors include John Byrne, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now!, Mack McFarland, Laura Sillars, Astria Suparak, and The Yes Men.
About The Yes Men
Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno are two guys who couldn’t hold down a job until they became representatives of Exxon, Halliburton, Dow Chemical, and the U.S. federal government. As the Yes Men, they use humor, truth and lunacy to bring media attention to the crimes of their unwilling employers. Their film, The Yes Men Fix the World, won the audience award at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, the Grierson Award for Most Entertaining Documentary, and went on to become a smash box-office sensation, only just barely surpassed by Avatar.
http://theyesmen.org/
About DiverseWorks ArtSpace
Known for its groundbreaking artistic and education programs, DiverseWorks is one of the premiere contemporary arts centers in the United States. For more than two decades, DiverseWorks has been a hub for the presentation of daring and innovative work, commissioning major artistic projects in all disciplines, and an advocate for artists worldwide. Founded by artists for artists, DiverseWorks continues its commitment to bold artistic exploration, creative risk-taking, and building audiences for contemporary art.
http://www.diverseworks.org
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday-Saturday, Noon to 6pm.
Free Admission and open to the public.
For Further Information:
Contact: Diane Barber Diane [at] diverseworks.org or Shawna Forney Shawna [at] diverseworks.org, 713.223.8346
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Houston-TX/DiverseWorks-Artspace/93317552993
Twitter: @DiverseWorks @TheYesMen @MillerGallery @PNCA
Programming for the DiverseWorks 2009-2010 Season is generously supported by: Academy for Educational Development; The Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Anonymous; Artadia: The Fund for Art and Dialogue; British Council; Brown Foundation, Inc.; The City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; Cullen Trust for the Performing Arts; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Greater East End Management District; Houston Endowment Inc.; KUHF (88.7FM)* ; Louisa Stude Sarofim Foundation; MAP Fund/Creative Capital; Barbara Friedel McKnight & Catering By Culinaire*; Mid-America Arts Alliance; National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency); National Performance Network; New England Foundation for the Arts; Nimoy Foundation; Susan Vaughan Foundation; Texas Commission on the Arts; The Wortham Foundation, Inc.; University of Houston; Visual Artists Network; DiverseWorks Major Donors and DiverseDonors. *In Kind
Image above:
McDonald’s McMascots: Rona McRiveter by The Yes Men